I hope this finds you all well. I run a small carpentry/contracting business and am looking to upgrade my computer tool (desk top) for a lap top or note book. I’m wondering what experience folks have had with note book/laptop on the job sight? I’ve been looking at a more commercial grade unit that (according to the sale man) should be able to stand a few bumps and dings. Do you have any suggestions?
Edited 11/11/2008 9:34 pm ET by anton
Replies
anton,
I carry my Dell around in airports and projects when I travel for the consulting I do. Its just a regular Inspiron 1501. Not any kind of the "outdoor" or "armored" models. I looked into them but for the cost, I can buy TWO of these kinds and just back up frequently and if one dies, oh well. Most laptops now come with "drop technology"...the little accelerometer that senses if its being dropped.
I do use a neoprene case and used "canned air" to clean it frequently. This one has been about 20 different places over the past two years and still works well.
The key is to backup your data so even if the computer fails, your information is not lost.
I do like the "outdoor field models" but have never owned one.
Mike
Mike Thank you for the info. I have found the Dell web sight and phone sales process a little daunting but will give them another look. I had gone to Best But recently and was shown a HP Compaq that had almost all that I would need.
A relatively nice Dell Inspiron is around $500.
A Panasonic Toughbook or the Dell equivalent is north of $2k- and it goes up fast. The Dell has an internal optical drive while the Panasonic does not.
As noted earlier, back it up frequently. A portable hard drive is cheap- you could back up daily.
The part you don't want to lose if you drop your notebook is the hard drive with all the data. Everything else can be replaced if damaged. Your data is the most important asset. If you can, get a computer with a solid-state hard drive (SSD). They don't have moving parts and can withstand many more G's. They are more expensive and are of smaller capacity but should be adequate for a work computer.
Edited 11/12/2008 7:22 am ET by Chucky
I just explained this recently:
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=111960.25
PS, best jobsite computers are: IBM(Lenovo) Thinkpad, Panasonic Toughbook, or Apple Macbook Pro............or........the cheapest laptop around and a trustworthy backup drive.
GK
Dell has a returns section, good buys on laptops for 2-3 hundred less than a new one, with all warranties. I've been well pleased with the one I bought.
I second the MacBook. I have the new uni-body one and it works great.
Do you have the regular or the pro? My 12" Powerbook is aging (almost 5 years old) and that 13" Macbook looks really nice.I do some occasional design work in Sketchup and Powercadd, do you think the integrated graphics will work well for that?I have CDO.
It's like OCD, only the letters are in alphabetical order like they're supposed to be.
http://www.truenorthcarpentry.net
Hey all!Thanks for the great tips. I think I may look at the Dell again especially the returns. But it sounds like having a zip(?) drive to back up on is a necessity. I had heard of a couple of the other machines mentioned, but had been a bit shy of them since I don't know anyone who has used them. The apple products seem to have a friendly audience. I wonder how well they work in conjunction with my home based PC.Again thanks for the advice. I'll keep in touch to see what other may recommend. Take good care.
Edited 11/12/2008 10:14 pm ET by anton
"Zip" drives became obsolete about a decade ago. I don't even know if Iomega makes supplies for it any longer. The small "thumb" or flash drives that plug into the USB socket have become sufficiently large capacity that they can handle all the backups for quite a while. Unfortunately, they re so small that I often misplace them. A USB external hard drive can be purchased surprisingly cheap these in sizes that will probably hold all of your business records for centuries (as long as you don't store a lot of photographs of all your work). Just get a good backup program and then plug the external drive in each night and let er rip. Consumer reports periodically gives a rating of how repair prone laptops are. I don't always agree with Consumer Reports, but their listing is probably a pretty good guide to reliability. I think Lenova and Apple came in near the top, but there were several that were only a percentage point or two different. If you are likely to have sensitive data, such as employee social security numbers or other data that bad guys could make use of, you might want to check out ways of encripting your data or at least using a good password system or biometric access mechanism such as I believe Lenova has on some of their laptops. I would guess that your changes of getting the laptop stolen are probably as great as getting it trashed on the worksite. There are now services that can trace when a stolen laptop logs onto the Internet. You should give some serious consideration as to how you want to protect and safeguard your data as well as your laptop.
Anton,I didn't get much of a chance to answer yesterday, so I will now. Do not get a Dell dude! They use inferior internal parts and I have never used one that didn't have some sort of problem ( could be a bad USB, a poor connection in power adapter, battery not keeping charge, etc. small stuff that is annoying >>sort of like buying an American car: It seems to run fine but the check engine light is always on the cd player won't work anymore, and the dash has a squeak/rattle<<). I just traded my IBM Thinkpad T42 for an Apple MacBook Pro. While shopping, I noticed that no other machines had the same quality as Apple or IBM (which is now made by Lenovo but I will contiue to call IBM). IBM invented the gyro technology that senses a drop. This makes for great harddrive life, especially if you are using it on the road (literally) so it even senses potholes. The entire shell of both IBM and Apple is protected by an aluminum cage. IBM has a sealed keyboard that won't kill the computer if you accidentally spill coffee into it (as much as you say it won't happen...trust me it happens). Both have a lot of power for their size and weight.***The only reason I switched to Apple is for the software. I would get a virus a year on my IBM (usually right when my Norton Antivirus subscription ran out). Apples don't tend to have that problem, and the integrated dual core processor in the Apple is more suited to my work with Photoshop and Sketchup. I still miss Autocad a little.Do get an "portable external harddrive". You must be sure it is portable. That means it runs off USB power only. This is important if you need to access a file in the "field office" you just framed, where there is no power outlets. I use a Seagate 160 GB portable and I feel it is quite rugged although I still keep it tucked into a beer koozie just in case. *Also, you should get a "thumb drive" AKA "flash drive". Size is really NOT important and you can get 1GB ones for $10. These are great for moving files (especially photos) quickly from computer to computer. These things are cheap enough now that everyone involved with the job should have one. They will replace DVD's and business cards soon.Seriously Consider getting a cellular broadband card. For only $60 a month, having internet access wherever you go is more helpful than any other accessory. No more relying on the coffee bar or waiting till you get home ( if you remember). This was what the link I posted to you yesterday referred to. Read that post and consider it. *Next, think about software. My laptop replaces my desktop so all the software that was on my desktop needed to go on my laptop. Since my desktop is a PC but my new laptop is an Apple, I had to get all new Mac OSX software (hence why I don't have Autocad anymore). But the major apps on my laptop are Sketchup, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Safari/Mozilla, Word, Excell, PowerPoint, and of course iTunes. I am thinking about installing Autocad using a PCemulator.**Lastly...Get a laptop specific briefcase, a car A/C adapter, and a corded mouse. No matter how tough your new laptop is, daily travel to, from, and around the job site is too harsh for any computer. A laptop specific briefcase has special padding around the laptop compartment. Make sure it provides room for accessories mentioned and more (ext.drive, flash, mouse, pen, paper). A laptop sleeve is no good here. **
Sometimes there is just no power around and you forgot to charge your computer the night before, but you really need it. Get an A/C adapter ( I got one from the autoparts store for $20) and you can compute on the road all the time. I take my laptop on vacation and surf the net while the wife drives.
The mouse is important if you get any computer drawing program.....because fumbling around with a touchpad while drawing wastes time and could make you look like an idiot if you want to make a "quick change" for the client while they wait.**Buy the best you can afford.I hope this helps...good luck.GK
Do not get a Dell dude! They use inferior internal parts and I have never used one that didn't have some sort of problem
I have not had any problems with my Dell stuff... probably no more "inferior internal components" than any other mass market merchandiser.
I know people that have had problems with Toshiba and HP... and HP has a reputation for exceptionally poor service outside of the warranty time period.
That said, I also have an HP laptop, and it also works fine. The touchscreen is a nice feature.
Both laptops will eat batteries... and there is a big recall involving several manufacturers for laptop battery issues. A laptop battery is considered a consumable.
There was a guy on YouTube that smashed an Apple laptop, so I imagine they have problems too :)
I strongly second Dreamcatchers recommendations.As far as laptops are concerned, I have had a Canon, 3 HP/Compaqs, a Dell, an IBM Thinkpad and now recently a Macbook. The Macbook blows away everything else. The Thinkpad was probably the best of the PC's, quite compact and durable, optimized for networking, very convenient if you have a docking station and a second screen. The Dell was slow and cumbersome.A year ago I bought an HP from Best Buy which I've been rather disappointed with. Even though I got 2GB of RAM, it still runs much slower than my 3 year old HP that it replaced (mother board died). This recent HP has already needed a new hard drive and it took 3 weeks to get repaired. Vista OS is garbage, get something with XP if you still can or wait till the new MS OS is released. Also beware you just can't load XP onto some new machines because the drivers are for Vista only. Best Buy is selling a really compact Acer for $450 that is still running XP, looks interesting, and great for airplane travel, though it's probably garbage. I won't buy a computer from places like Best Buy anymore. Once you've shopped at an Apple Store you'll see why.The Mac takes a little getting used to if you are used to Windows, but it's superiority becomes apparent rather quickly. I got the MS Office Suite for Mac and though it works fine, there are some functionality issues that are only available on Windows. This should not be an issue for most, but since I use Excel all the time and also need to use AutoCad and OST on occasion, I have the HP for that. As far as external drives go, get a couple of those compact WD (Western Digital) drives. Best Buy sells the 250GB for $100. I suggest you keep one in a remote location (2nd house, parents house, safe deposit box) in the event your place burns down, you don't lose your back-up too. I've got thousands of family pictures, never mind years of files, that are irreplaceable."We don't throw the first punch, but we'll throw the last" Barack Obama Oct.2008
Edited 11/13/2008 1:57 pm ET by TGNY
What PC emulator do you like for AutoCad? I have seen Parallels or VMware's Fusion. Or is running bootcamp preferable? Haven't tried any yet but getting ready to."We don't throw the first punch, but we'll throw the last" Barack Obama Oct.2008
Bootcamp will get you the most speed, as it's 100% native. but from what I hear both vmware and parallels don't take too much of a speed hit. Can't say I've tried any of the three options myself. I've been on the prowl for a retail XP package so I can run a couple of little vertical market programs in windows via bootcamp.Steve
Thanks Steve, I've been told by some that there is a noticeable difference in performance with AutoCad when used with bootcamp (do to the fact that it's native). I don't use it enough to want to reboot every time, that's why I am considering one of the others."We don't throw the first punch, but we'll throw the last" Barack Obama Oct.2008
steve.. just a bump to bring this back to the topMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Here's review I just saw today comparing Paralles to VMware. It's not very comprehensive, but there is a little information there.http://webworkerdaily.com/2008/11/13/parallels-desktop-4-vs-vmware-fusion-2-the-web-worker-angle/Steve
I was thinking of using Boot Camp, but still need to find a copy of XP to do so.I also thought of using Virtual PC.Still undecided, don't need it at the moment but when I do I suspect that spur of the moment decisions will guide my choice.
I have the 13.3" MacBook. It really hs a lot power.
I'd heartily recommend a portable hard drive and back up your data frequently, you can always buy another computer, but with a daily backup, all you'll lose is one day's transactions if your computer gets broken or stolen.
I'm a firm believer in the "Guns & Butter" theory. A "Tool" of the trade should be considered as a "gun" and therefore an investment which will yield a return. The "El Cheapo" is nothing more than a stick of butter which will melt by tommorow, and with it, goes your hard earned money.
Chucky put you onto the state of the art hard drive, and CaseyR, did all your research and hit the nail right on the head and drove it home in one shot!
With advice like that, if you do anything less than "reach" for an investment in yourself and your business, shame on you!...........if you can't dance, too!
Your theory is correct, but there is no getting around the fact that a jobsite ready hardened notebook is a minimum of 3x the cost of a very well equipped no frills laptop... used Toughbooks aren't exactly cheap, either.
The solid state hard drives are also quite pricey at this time.
Between the hardened notebook and the solid state memory, the memory prices will come down- the Toughbook type market is much more limited.
A portable USB hard drive will handle backup tasks adequately.
A USB flash drive would handle plenty of material, too.
Data security is also very important- lots of personal liability if employee SS numbers are on there... not to mention personal and confidential info.
I'll be getting a new laptop soon, and it will be the Thinkpad T400. It's the right size and weight for me, plus it has a super bright screen for easier reading in sunlight. It has a hybrid graphics system that saves batteries too, so you can get up to 8 hours from the battery alone.
They also have the T500 with a bigger screen, but it doesn't have the same backlight.
I agree on the Dells - serious suckage. They are OK if you only need a heavy, thick, slow computer that happens to have a built in screen. But if you need to be portable, a Thinkpad or Mac is the only way to go.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
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I've had an IBM T43 Thinkpad on the jobsite for over 3 yrs now and no problems. I have a stand in my van for it and it goes to customer meetings as well as into the jobsite.
When the time comes I will certainly get another thinkpad
I will offer another suggestion to blur your decision process even more..
I have been extremely happy with my Sony Vaio over the last three years. I also have a Dell that I use for my duties as secretary/treasurer of the local volunteer fire department. My wife has a Mac and I suspect she loves it more than she love me.
The Vaio is much nicer in terms if fit and finish and I've yet to have any issues. I am a firm believer in AVG anti-virus, Mozilla apps, and Quickbooks accounting software. The Dell is just too loaded with software and layers of conflicts as well as the new Vista operating system with which I am not accustomed to. The Mac is great for surfing the web and listening to iTunes and using Skype to video chat, it has Office software but I am not familiar with the OS and it annoys my to death that there is only one mouse button.
I would seriously recommend staying far, far away from anything Compaq, HP, or no-name cheapo. I am also very happy with the Iomega external hard drive and use it frequently to back up the entire machine. I leave most files on the external drive and the laptop runs much faster and file access is just as good as the internal drive.
Good luck, lots of choices out there.
>>it annoys my to death that there is only one mouse button.<<Plug a two-button mouse in and it will work. If it is a recent mac laptop, clicking with two fingers on the trackpad is the same as a right-click. You may have to enable the two-fingered right click in system preferences.Steve
Edited 11/13/2008 10:21 pm by mmoogie
Thanks for replying to my question.I've been out of town and unable to access the web easily. I think I'll check out your suggestion. I will re consider any HP compaq units although I had been looking at their business units.
"My wife has a Mac and I suspect she loves it more than she love me."LOL. I've got that same problem too.
Being an IT professional for over 30 years I can tell from the posts that have appeared on the forum concerning your question they are all over the map. Most people base their suggestions on their own experiences with a product vs concrete lap reports, reviews, etc.
Most of your decision will be based on value vs cost benefits as most have shared you need to determine what your needs are first. Meaning what applications you will be using how often the unit will be placed in the field etc.
Warranty, Warranty, Warranty I can't say it enough for users who lack technical experience. Get the best one that you can afford example full replacement if unit is thrown into lake or dropped off 2nd floor landing. (it does happen more than you realize).
CNET/ZNET are great places to go for fair reviews of products that you might be interested in purchasing.
Dell does offer bare bone systems, their VOSTRO line come loaded with the OS only plus with Dell you still can get Windows XP vs Vista. (Note: Windows 7.0 will be out by FY2009.)
Stay within the same operating system if you are using multiple PC's in your work environment. Far less confusion and compatibility issues.
Much talk has been given on security and backups. All great advise I would investigate automated backups which are your best bet also online backups numerous sites offer this now with minimum cost.
Good luck
"(Note: Windows 7.0 will be out by FY2009.)"Like Vista was on time! Good luck!
What I sense sarcasm there Twhite ha, ha.
I tend to believe them.
The new version is probably a patch to fix Vista, and get rid of the bad feelings many people have about Vista at the same time. The last really whiz-bang version of Windows that way over stepped the real needs of users, at the same time adding some troublesome new features that weren't't all the tested out was 4.0.
Windows 4.0.####, (too many service packs and patches to count), lasted less than a year before Microsoft released 5.0, and if you had bought 4.0, they shipped you 5.0 without asking, or charging. 5.0 was essentially 4.0, with all the nuisances, and worst problems stripped out, and a few new features they had been working on anyway.
Hey MedexThanks for the names of the review sights. I've read some in magazines and haven't to convince of the impartiality of the reviews. Finally, the main reason I posted was to see what those who have real world experience taking their laptops from home, to van/truck, to job sight, to meetings, and back again, have to say about the bumps and dings that come along with owning one of these tools.Take good care,Anton
Anton,
I am paranoid so I take my laptop everywhere. To work, out to dinner with the wife, on vacation, to the bowling alley, to the bank. I hide it in the truck if I can't take it in. Not really the info you needed though...I do take it to work at real deal, down and dirty jobsites. I don't push pencils for a living, I hump 2x4's and slap in cabinets and trim. I do remodeling, design, and cabinetmakkng. I use my laptop for work everyday. I use my laptop in the morning at home to check mail and BT, then i toss it in a bag and drive to the job, I use it at the job to play music, then toss it in the bag for lunch. Pull it out at the diner to check mail and look at #### (kidding, but that's the comment I always get from waitresses). Back in the bag till the jobsite....out for music again....back in the bag....in the truck to go home.....back out to check mail and draw in the evening......same thing next morning. I buy my tools and electronics to take abuse, and so far I have not been real disappointed. I do my homework, read reviews, talk to BT'ers, feel/test it in store, rent or borrow if I can and then buy. It took me a month to decide on my new laptop (it took me 4yrs to decide on a new tablesaw). I was happy with my IBM, it lasted almost 5 years going through that routine. So far I am happy with my new MacBook Pro and it seems happy to go through the same routine.good luck
You and I treat our laptops the same.
I realized I had to clean up my laptop a little bit though. I use my personal laptop for a part time job (just more convenient for me), and I sometimes show examples of how things will happen in a presentation on my system.
I realized that looking at these white collar types, their laptops looked like they got dusted every night. Mine looks like I sometimes drop a jelly sandwich on the keyboard. Well, that only happened once ;) I've actually worn the paint off the frame of my last Thinkpad. Now I try to take it apart and clean it, and even replace the broken plastic bezel pieces... well, most of the noticable ones.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
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Whatever one you look at, get the salesman to let you take it outside. Screen visibility on a job site is way better on some than others.
I recommend a track ball as opposed to a mouse. I have found that I don't really have a flat spot to use the mouse in a pickup, but the track ball can sit on your leg, or the console if need be.
Kensington makes a bluetooth trackball combination mouse that is REALLY nice.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
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where did you find that trackball???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
http://www.amazon.com/Kensington-SlimBlade-Trackball-Bluetooth-K72281US/dp/B000VE4MM2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1227048793&sr=8-1
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Works great in cramped spaces like airlines, as well as on the couch. Switches back to being a regular mouse, then the ball is a scroll wheel that goes up - down and side - side. Super Awesome!Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Tu stultus es
thanks....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Whatever one you look at, get the salesman to let you take it outside."where are you shopping for laptops where the salesman would or even could let you take it outside!??!Hey, while you are at it, ask him if you can try it out in your car........and your house......and your jobsite ;-)BTW...did you guys see the new TOTT JobSite Commander? Comes equipped with a "military spec" Dell computer. Also did you see the advert within the TOTT:JSC article for Dodge ram that is it's own wireless hotspot? I thought that was interesting.
Buy a Mac & never look back.........
...until you find you need to run a bit of software that you can't on a mac.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
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...then you use bootcamp or paralells.
Mac runs only 90% of the software out there... if that. Bootcamp just makes it into an OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive PC... how is that a plus?
Here, let me give you a specific example to work on:
I'm a dork user who buys a Mac. I've got a stack of learning CD's I have to work with for my medical residency. My PC using neighbor tells me about something called Disk Imaging software, which allows him to load a CD into RAM instead of a physical CD drive. I'd like to do this too, with my stack of 50 CD's that I'd not like to carry with me. How do I do this on a Mac?Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
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Paul,>>How do I do this on a Mac?<<Boot your mac into windows (either natively or in emulation) and proceed to do it. Anything (that's as in100%) that you would do an any other PC you can do on your Mac because, as you yourself point out, you now have exactly an expensive PC. >>how is that a plus?<<Because you don't have to run Windows unless you need to, which in reality turns out to be just about never.And you have a very well built, beautifully designed, nicely equipped PC, on par with a similarly priced Sony Viao.Not going to get into the platform war, but there is precisely nothing that you can't do on a Mac that you can do on a windows-only PC, but you cannot run Mac OSX on a PC (well actually you can, but not legally...).Steve
Edited 11/19/2008 7:33 am by mmoogie
As far as Paul's other question, do they make a CD emulator (virtual drive) for Mac's? I had one on my PC where I ran Rosetta Stone for instance. I didn't have to have the machine running the CD drive all the time, while studying. Also I checked out the app store, there are so many cool new things out there, did you see the iHandy Carpenter app? I installed some language and flight info apps for an upcoming trip to Asia. Very useful stuff.Now I've got to jailbreak the iPhone so I can get a local sim card when I travel. In the past I just brought a second GSM phone with me.
Edited 11/19/2008 7:48 am ET by TGNY
>>do they make a CD emulator (virtual drive) for Mac's?<<Disk Utility (in the utilities folder in the applications folder) will create a disk image from a CD or DVD.I did look at iHandy carpenter, but decided not to get it just yet. As far as Jailbreaking the phone, there used to be some fairly serious ramifications to doing so, but I think not so much anymore, but I know you will probably do a little research on that before you you do it. I'm sure there are web sites dedicated to it.Steve
That software will just make an ISO, it won't allow you to use drives that have some sort of copy protection built into them.
Try finding a Mac version of Alcohol 120%.
With that program, I now have a stack of CD's in my hard drive instead of a stack of scratched coasters. Makes it easy to store and burn backups of Bootable disks too. I can play CD games on the plane, and not worry when my kids want to watch a movie about swapping disks. My wife can run her Judaic encycopedia software without wondering where I put the disk.
But I'm using this as an example to illustrate a point: A Mac can be all that... until it's not. Rebooting into an alternate operating system to use a program is an unthinkable alternative - too long, slow, can't copy & paste between applications on the other side. Plus any changes you make to one side have to be duplicated on the other - like new printer or scanner drivers for instance.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
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>>Rebooting into an alternate operating system to use a program is an unthinkable alternative - too long, slow, can't copy & paste between applications on the other side. <<So run Parallels or VMware, and you don't have to reboot. And you can copy and paste between them, and linux too if you want, all running at the same time.>>That software will just make an ISO<<Maybe you can explain to me the difference between an ISO and a .dmg file. It'll make .dmg files, which when opened launch the image as a virtual drive. I'm pretty sure it will also make bootable disks. This from the Disk Utility help file: "You can use Disk Utility to create a disk image, which is a file that contains other files and folders that you can mount on your desktop like a hard disk. You can create a disk image using an existing disk, volume, or folder. Or you can create a blank disk image and copy files to it.""Double-clicking the image mounts it on your desktop, where it looks like a hard disk. You can read the files on the image and copy files from it to your hard disk. If you created a read/write disk image, you can also copy files from your hard disk to the image and edit the image’s files."If you really must have the functionality of Alcohol, than run alcohol on your Mac in Windows, either emulated or natively booted.Look, I'm not saying the Mac is for everyone. But the fact is that it will do everything any other PC does, because it is a PC. It's just a PC that uses EFI BIOS so it can also run the Mac OS. If you have no use for the Mac OS, than it's not for you. But there is nothing it can't do that a comparably equipped Windows PC can, because it is a windows PC, and then some.If you find it too onerous to maintain two different operating system environments on one machine, that'syour choice. But it can be done with relative ease.I'm not knocking you or anyone else for preferring windows. I'm just trying to keep the facts straight so people can make a decision based on reality, not perception. I've not been pushing a Mac on the OP because it's pretty clear he has no interest it. If you want to get into name-calling (dork user who buys a mac?) I guess that's your prerogative. Steve
Edited 11/19/2008 12:16 pm by mmoogie
By dork, I ment my neighbor - not Mac buyers (we both know that buying a Mac instantly puts you into the realm of Hipster; Wait, sorry, didn't mean to start a flame war by calling you a hipster!). By Dork User, I mean the millions out there who will buy a computer with very little knowledge of computers. That would include my Dad, my wife, my in laws, my friends, etc. Me, I'm a dork too, just a different kind of dork.
As for the ISO and dmg differences - don't know, other than neither one of them work with CD ROM that use a copy protection scheme. Library, encyclopedia, and game CD's commonly employ these schemes to prevent one disk from being copied and passed around - they require the instalation CD to be in the drive for the software to run.
We went round and round trying to find a solution for my neighbor, and we couldn't. This was after he paid for Parallels, and after he paid for Alcohol. I looked for days but could not find software the would do for a Mac what Alcohol could do for a PC.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
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I know there are some limitations to what you can do in Parallels. But my understanding is that running a Mac natively booted into Windows via bootcamp gives you a machine that is identical to any other PC.So he couldn't boot the PC natively into windows and launch alcohol and make it work the same as on a PC?StevePS: I'm about as unhip as they come...a 50-year-old dweeb.
DON"T DARE CALL A MAC USR A DWEEB!!!
:)Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
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>>My PC using neighbor tells me about something called Disk Imaging software, which allows him to load a CD into RAM instead of a physical CD drive.<<Oh, and as far as this particular chore, Disk Imagining software is built into the mac. There is a utility include called disk utility, from within which you can make a disk image of a CD, among many other things. Steve
Some of our friend just can't keep up with tech <;-)
anton -
I've read the posts and noticed the stuff about Dell, including the refurbished/returned ones.
My experience with Dell was disappointing. I bought one of their computers from the discount store and had problems with it from day one. I kept track and had about 15 different calls to their service centers (in India and Pakistan) that were a waste of my time. Finally, they sent out a rep with a new hard drive who was done with the changeover in about 10 minutes. That solved most of the problems, but it left a bad taste. I don't know if I would buy another one from them - likely not.
Experiences with HP products (usually printers) have been disappointing too.
My 2 cents.
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
Thanks It's great to hear about insights and outcomes from you and the others.Anton
Best site on web for geek info is Slashdot - News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters.
Acer has great laptops for under $500. Dependable, not designed for jobsite conditions, treat it like a level.
Check out "One Laptop Per Child". Designed for 3rd world; water proof, dust proof, drop proof and can even be charged by hand crank. Uses a linux os. You give one to some poor kid and get one for yourself. $400